Population 260.000 inhabitants - Verona, a city characterised by more than two thousand years of history, is nowadays the second centre in Veneto region, in the North-East of Italy, for its liveliness and for the importance of its economic activities; moreover it is an international tourist centre.
The sweet loops of the Adige, that flows through the city, and the low hills surrounding it at the northern side contribute to creating an harmoniously beautiful landscape.
Due to its geographical position, Verona was probably an Etruscan and Euganean centre, but the first certain signs of civilization date back to the 4th century BC. During the Roman Empire it was an instrumental political and commercial centre, whose magnificent traces can still be seen: the Arena, the Roman Theatre, the Roman Arco dei Gavi, Porta Borsari, the archaeological area near Porta Leoni and the Scavi Scaligeri. This area, situated in the middle of the city, only some meters away from Piazza Erbe, became in the Middle Age centre of political and economic power. Here the marks of different historical periods are harmoniously moulded together: from Roman ruins to magnificent palaces of the 18th –19th century situated between medieval buildings, that flourished under the reign of the Signori Scaligeri, and Renaissance style buildings.
A very interesting, yet a relatively unknown feature of the city are the walls, which in some parts are still incredibly well conserved; especially the most recent segments, where a great part of the perimeter still exists, conveying a particular aspect to the city that permits us to build on its history.
While there remains little of the double walls built by the Romans (only a little segment along the actual via Diaz and a piece of wall of the Mura di Gallieno near the Arena), the communal walls between Castelvecchio and Ponte Aleardi, which were rebuilt after the inundation in 1239, are still in a perfect state of conservation. The walls perimeter, built by the Signoria Scaligera and finished in January 1325, enclosed an area of 450 hectares. It was conserved by the Venetians in the 16th century and also in the 19th by the Austrians, who made Verona one of the four fortified cities of the "quadrilatero".
The monumental gates, the walls and the fortification are testimony to the strategic importance of the city, well protected from external aggressions.
Moreover Verona has always been synonymous with culture. Numerous institutions, such as the Biblioteca Civica, the Biblioteca Capitolare (whose Scriptorium already existed in the 6th century AD), the Accademia Filarmonica (the most antique in the world), the Fondazione Arena, the Literary Society, the antique Academy of Agriculture, Science and Literature, the University and the Conservatory maintain its cultural liveliness.
Verona has hosted millions of visitors, many of them very famous, for example Dante, Mozart, Goethe, Ruskin.
Nowadays Verona attracts people from everywhere thanks to the Arena, the myth of Romeo and Juliet and its precious beauty.